1. Field of Invention
The instant invention relates to a novel method and means for the efficient, safe, and economic decontamination of the interior of a physical structure, such as a building, and/or articles contained therein that are contaminated by microorganisms.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,141 disclosed a method for the sterile packaging and wetting of articles in a bottle, bag, or other sealable container utilizing a solution, usually but not necessarily an aqueous solution, of a standard anti-bacterial agent. The method allows for partially filling the container with such a solution, and placing in the container those items to be sterilized then the container is sealed so that an air (or gas) space is formed above the liquid. Thereafter the container and its contents are heated to a temperature well below the boiling point of the liquid and at a pressure of about one atmosphere. The heating operation is continued until all organisms, including spores, are killed. Finally, the container and its contents are cooled to below the dew point of the air (or gas) so as to allow the humidified air (or gas), as produced during the heating step, to condense the solution on to the surfaces inside the container which are in the air space and not submerged under the liquid solution. The cooling operation depends upon the heating operation because the dew point temperature is relative to the humidity and temperature of the air (or gas) in the space which is created by the heated air (or gas).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,746 disclosed a method of regulating the amount of anti-bacterial agent present in the air space inside a container during the sterilization processes as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,677, U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,003 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,141. The sterilization process required the container and all its contents to be heated in order for the sterilization to take place. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,746 patent allowed a means for controlling how long it takes for sterilization to occur with precision and eliminated the need for testing to be performed during the heating process to check for consistent results and, as such, the wetting of articles as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,141 could be done with uniformity because the amount of anti-bacterial agent being condensed into an aqueous solution, that being the wetting step, upon the articles within the package is consistent or known every time the heat process is performed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,232 disclosed a method comprising the steps of providing a housing with means for providing the passage of a container between the interior and the exterior of the housing, introducing a container into the housing, heating, vaporizing and then dispensing vaporized hydrogen peroxide into the container, dispensing an article into the container, and sealing the container. This method allows for the use of hydrogen peroxide as a sterilant that is easily formed into a vapor at one atmosphere and below the boiling point of liquid hydrogen peroxide and further sterilizes the air with which it is mixed.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,153,471 disclosed a method of decontaminating a structure contaminated by pathogenic microorganisms such as bacillus anthracis and its spores, B. subtilis var niger and its spores, and B. stearothermophilus and its spores including the steps of sealing a contaminated structure sufficiently to enable retention of a gas, introducing methyl bromide gas into sealed contaminated structure to a concentration of methyl bromide in an amount sufficient to deactivate said pathogenic microorganisms and to disable germination of pathogenic bacteria spores, and maintaining said sealed contaminated structure with said concentration of methyl bromide at a sufficient temperature for a sufficient period of time, and deactivating said pathogenic microorganisms and disabling germination of said pathogenic bacteria spores associated with said contaminated structure.
A problem with these processes as claimed and disclosed is that they do not allow for the heating, cooling and humidity control of only the sealed interior of a building which is necessary because attempting to heat, cool or control humidity from the exterior is difficult because buildings are insulated between the interior and exterior walls thereby rejecting heat transfer and humidity infusion or removal. A further problem with these processes as claimed and disclosed is that they do not allow a way to uniformly distribute disinfectant in the interior of a building utilizing a vaporous sterilizing solution because there is no way to regulate the amount of sterilizing agent in the vapor. Another problem is that these processes as claimed and disclosed do not allow for the uniform wetting of articles with controlled amounts of disinfectant and then the removal of the condensed solution and vaporous disinfectant from the interior of the building at atmospheric conditions nor does it allow for the wetting of the surfaces with water after the sterilant is condensed onto the surfaces in order to prevent or lessen any corrosive effects of the residue left behind on the disinfected surfaces. Another problem is that there is no way to prevent any lethal disinfecting gas leaking to the outside of the building from dispersing in the air because it is in the superheated range at one atmosphere.
Despite the great need for an efficient treatment method of reasonable cost that will eradicate microorganisms in the interior surfaces of a building and articles therein, thereby to effectively sterilize said surfaces, the use of regulated vaporous disinfecting agent in aqueous solution by conditioning the air only in the interior of the building and removal there from has not been reported.